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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

In Context: Not I, Footfalls, Rockaby

Samuel Beckett's Not I, Footfalls, and Rockabyrun at BAM from October 7—12. Context is everything, so get even closer to the production with this curated selection of original blog pieces, articles, interviews, and videos related to the artists. Once you've seen it, help us keep the conversation going by telling us what you thought below.

Watch & Listen
VideoLisa Dwan Discusses Beckett’s Not I (BBC)
"Every cell is employed in Not I,” assures Dwan, “even though it's just a mouth on stage."
Medieval torture device or necessary Not I accoutrement? The actor explains.

ArticleAn Irish Wave Hits Brooklyn (BAM Blog)Not I, Footfalls, Rockaby is one of four Irish theater productions in this year's Next Wave Festival.

Worthwhile Words

Beckett wanted the piece to “work on the nerves of its audience, not its intellect” and stipulated that it should be emitted at “the speed of thought”. Dwan's nine-minute performance is the quickest on record. The woman's plight is grotesquely tragicomic: having spent most of her isolated, loveless life mute, she now finds herself the victim of relentless verbal diarrhoea. Listening to Dwan's unbelievably breakneck, manic Irish-accented gabble is like watching a non-driver trapped at the wheel in a hurtling vehicle with no brakes. The actress, though, is in prodigious control of the material. The woman's recurring denial that she is the subject of her third-person narrative – “what?...who?...no!...she!” escalates, to just right degree here, in desperate, teeth-baring insistence.” —The Independent (UK)

Now your turn...

So how did you enjoy the show? Likes? Dislikes? Surprises? Tell us what's on your mind in the comments below.

32 comments:

Again bad Beckett at BAM. Is it even possible? Unsuccessful light effects and diction problems mixed with a mediocre performance make the already ambitious plan of presenting these monologues in such a big theater, a total disaster.

Saw this last night and thought we had entered the fifth ring of hell. Self-indulgent at best, boring and insulting at worst, it was the poorest performance we have seen in the ten+ years we have been going to see shows at BAM.

Mesmerizing from start to finish. From the fast-as-possible "Not I" to the slower pace of "Footfalls" to the even slower, deliberate "Rockaby." The lighting and sound required intense concentration from the audience, magnifying the experience. Dwan, zealously faithful to the material, showed how it is possible -- even essential -- to play Beckett straight, letting the humor and emotion flow from the words and trusting the stage directions, whether they were to scream or to whisper. In "Footfalls" in particular, Dwan captured with subtlety the anguish and despair of being trapped caring for someone you love, but who lingers, wasting away in both mind and body.

I was a frustrating experience. I expected not being able to follow every word of "Not I", but in the other two pieces I will only caught a word here and there because the voice was barely audible. I' hate to say it, but it needed amplification if the actress had to whisper her lines, on and off the stage. I love Becket, so it was aggravating not to hear the text.

It was a singular thetrical experience. "Not I" was incomprehensible and "Footfalls" and "Rockaby" were inaudible (in Row J center of the orchestra). On the way out, I met a fellow who had sat in the fourth row and he assured me that he couldn't hear anything either. A disaster from my point-of-view and I have seen these plays done before audibly.

I'm a great admirer of Beckett's writing in all its manifestations and evolutions. At this point in Beckett's writing for theatre he strips everything away, except the text. All the audience is left with is the text. The words. But experiencing them in a live performance is completely worthless if they can't be heard.

Last night's performance of Beckett plays was a really disappointing experience. I love Beckett and Lisa Kwan seemed more than capable of a giving terrific performance. It's the basic stuff that failed here: I was sitting in R29 and couldn't hear 80% of the text. Totally inaudible, even the amplified recorded parts. The house was stuffy upon entering at 7:15pm, with zero air flow or ventilation throughout. The seat was worse than standing. The ushers were doing laps around the mezzanine. The ticket prices were expensive. It started late. "55 minutes" was really more like 45, and that's if you include the padding of music between plays. I'm sorry to say, this experience will not be soon forgotten.

Infuriating theatre for the 1%. Probably where Ben Brantley sat he could hear and see well. In the cheap seats it was unintelligible and virtually invisible. To put this production in this vast space is not to serve the play, not to serve the public.Screwed by BAM again.

For those of us who were disappointed in the BAM productions, and apparently there are many of us, there is a recourse. Billie Whitelaw's performances. honed under the eye (and ear) of Beckett himself are all available on YouTube:

From the Billie Whitelaw Wikipedia entry:

In 1963, Billie Whitelaw met Irish playwright Samuel Beckett. She and Beckett enjoyed an intense professional relationship until his death in 1989. He wrote many of his more experimental plays especially for her, referring to Whitelaw as "A perfect actress". Whitelaw became Beckett's muse, as he created, reworked and revised each play while she physically, at times to the point of total exhaustion, acted out each movement. Whitelaw remains the foremost interpreter of the man and his work. She gives lectures on the Beckettian technique, and has explained "He used me as a piece of plaster he was moulding until he got just the right shape". They collaborated on Beckett plays such as Play, Eh Joe, Happy Days, Not I, Footfalls and Rockaby for both stage and screen.

Not I:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFQH7hhDTSE

Footfalls, Part 1:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGvwqERVkFw

Footfalls, Part 2:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-uE4Y7FVZ8

Footfalls, Part 3:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zEnsaIjWyA

Rockaby, Part 1:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3cjRicX1Hw

Rockaby, Part 2:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEdBWtv4YbM

Read the plays, including Beckett's extensive stage directions, then watch how Beckett intended them to be done. I don't think the productions at BAM respect his intentions and I don't think they are any good in their own right. Brad is certainly entitled to his opinion, however arrogantly he may express it, but, for me, watching and listening to the BAM presentations was like trying to look at a Rothko through an opaque glass (darkly). I've seen these plays a number of times (including Billie Whitelaw performances) and read them more than once. I don't think that what's on the stage at BAM does them any justice. I don't purport to find the contrary opinions of Brad (and Brantley) "hilarious," just very perplexing.

Extremely disappointing. I actually couldn't believe how bad it was, given the price and the hype. Kwan is a great performer, but that isn't enough -- the production reminded me of the old (bad) experimental theater I used to see in college - not to mention that I could hardly hear or see anything! I hope the rest of the season improves or I will have to seriously question BAM's choices - thank goodness there are so many other NY theater options!

Can't understand these comments about inaudibility. I was half way up the house and I heard everything. I was in the middle. Perhaps the audibility problems were on the sides?

And I have to say that I thought it was an evening of transcendent theatre. Perfect from the first syllable. Not I doesn't need to be understood, word for word. It can't be, spoken 'at the speed of thought' (Beckett's own direction) The use of only the mouth was a coup-de-theatre, particularly as played by Dwan, who didn't miss a syllable. That would not have been enough had she just blurted everything, but there was so much nuance in her accents, her rhythms, her cadences, her pacing, her volume, her movement... Yes, movement, which was the most surprising thing; how she moved her head, so that the Mouth seemed to be floating, hovering in space.

Footfalls was utterly different, but equally compelling. The rhythm of the pacing up and down, the two accents, both Anglo Irish, but each different, the way she played against the recorded voice. Quite breathtaking, quite beautiful, quite an experience.

Rockaby completed the set. And, was that Billie Whitelaw sitting beside Walter Asmus, the director, again half way up the house? I believe it was.

Such a disappointment! I had seen Whitelaw do it in London in '73 double billed with Krapp's Last Tape & it was thrilling. I was so excited to experience it again & the other two pieces. I cannot fault the actress. She seemed quite capable as raw material, although Billie Whitelaw's articulation was far superior with every single word of hers much clearer. However, the technical production aspects were appalling, especially the sound design. Really poor and so difficult as to audibility. And very disappointed with the directing. Normally, you do not have to even understand Beckett's real intent or the background in these pieces to have a gorgeous visceral experience that will be right on target globally as an overarching reaction. His musicality, words and precise staging will give you the experience regardless. It is amazing how lost & sloppy this direction was with so little failing to pass through to the audience; even by default.

Reading Beckett is so important to me, as I become caught up in the poignancy of characterization and words. I was hoping to enjoy this production, although it is seldom that a production has captured Beckett's depths for me. But there was no way for me to become involved. The stage and setting were virtually invisible and the words either incomprehensible or inaudible.

I took my niece, b/c I LOVE NOT I. However, our $70 seats entitled us to seeing a dot on stage. I've been to performances that showed a screen along w/the actress on stage so that people further away could actually see something. Disappointing to say the least. The other 2 acts at least she saw something. Alas.

totally disgusting and disappointing; total lack of anything: talent, respect towards the audience. completely agree with above comments about incomprehensible mumbling on stage. we could see the stage but there was nothing to look at

A compelling production in some ways, also mystifying. Ms. Dwan is remarkable, yet, as other commentators have noted, a lot of the language is hard to decipher. Understand that that may be part of the point in Not I, but, as for the rest ?... You wonder, if it weren't Beckett, what would you say about the evening??Also, pre-curtain, we were given an ususually stern (& excellent!) warning about our cell phones, then, of course, late comers were seated after Not I, affecting the flow of the evening anyway.I always enjoy the theater, but couldn't help wondering what other things I might have done with that $200.

I don't understand the comments about the flawed diction and inaudibility of the production. I was in the upper section of the orchestra near the very edge of the side and I heard every word--or at least every word Beckett intended to be heard. Much of Beckett's cyclical dialogue emphasizes the Absurdists' tenet that language is insufficient for human understanding. This was never clearer than in the "language at the speed of thought" "Not I."

One need only have witnessed the insufferable mugging of Patrick Stewart in last season's "Godot" to see dreadful Beckett. By contrast, Lisa Dwan delivered a tour de force "Not I" which was everything it was advertised to be.

I have been a devoted fan of Beckett plays and have attended many performances over the years; I saw a performance of Rockaby by Ms. Hunter just a few years ago which was brilliant. At the Harvey I was with two other people sitting in the second row and all three of us found the recorded material entirely inaudible. It was a thoroughly wasted evening for us, seeing our beloved Beckett rendered virtually non-existent. You should be refunding monies for what felt like technical difficulties.

Beckett intended that the words flow rapidly, but not to the point of incomprehensibility.. There is not only pain and helplessness in Beckett's vision. There is also humor, along with self-awareness, both of which are redemptive and at times transcendent, given the human condition. The recitation, esp. of Not I, didn't allow this duality to enter our consciousness. Comparisons with Billie Whitelaw are inevitable and unfair. Beckett wrote many plays in her presence and directed her performances. Your production had a talented actress who deserved a better director and perhaps some input from people who know and love Beckett's work. One thing for sure: you must not stop presenting Beckett, surely the greatest playwright of the twentieth-century. Why not do another early play? Your audience for this production was noticeably mature. Do another Godot, Happy Days, Endgame, Krapp's Last Tape, and the current college and high school kids will flock to the theater. (The best review of Godot, back in its earliest showings, came from San Quentin Prison.)

I am among those who had difficulty both hearing and seeing the performance. I was in row N, the mezzanine, almost center and had brought binoculars. I am also familiar with the works and had seen Billie Whitelaw do them and carry a vivid memory of that performance (in a much smaller and more appropriate space). I'm a Friend of BAM and an appreciator of New Wave productions...but this one was a complete loss for me and the cost of seats, even to a Friend whose costs are somewhat less, is too great for something one can neither fully see nor hear.

Sitting in Row K (orchestra), I found "Footfalls" totally inaudible. I also missed much of the dialogue in "Rockaby." Was it asking too much to turn up the volume for these pre-recorded voices? I know that "Not I" needed to be performed in total darkness, but why sustain such dim lighting effects for the other two pieces? In the long run, I suspect the Harvey was too big a space for these Beckett pieces.

When I attend contemporary theater, I am often disappointed, but found this trilogy of Beckett plays to communicate the tension and intensity that seem to be missing in much of what I've experienced in the past. I thought that all three were well performed, and although I was in row N near the center, I could hear except when members of the audience coughed or cleared their throats (a problem beyond the control of BAM or the director). Also, the lighting enhanced the performances in my opinion. Obviously BAM's Next Wave does not work for everyone, but we are fortunate that it exists in Brooklyn....would never work on Braodway!)

In these plays Beckett created a kind of stress-test for the actor and the audience. Ms. Dwan passes that test brilliantly, dazzlingly. This is one of those works that manages to be simultaneously almost unbearable to watch and emotionally transporting.